


Hope Rescued

by olio



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, Star Wars Legends: Jedi Apprentice Series - Jude Watson & Dave Wolverton, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: F/F, Tahl lives
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-20
Updated: 2016-11-20
Packaged: 2018-08-30 23:36:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,433
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8554132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/olio/pseuds/olio
Summary: Tahl goes to Tatooine to free Shmi





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Leechbrain](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Leechbrain/gifts).



_Mos Espa, Tatooine_

“Shmi Skywalker?”

“Yes?”

“I'm here to steal you.”

Shmi looked up (and up, and up, for the woman who had just entered Watto’s shop was very, very tall, and, Shmi had to admit, very beautiful), then blinked, dumbfounded. “Excuse me?” Whatever she had expected to hear from a customer, this was most certainly not it.

From behind the woman came a snort, and a young Mon Calamari pushed her way past and into the room. “Oh, come on, Master, you can't just spring things like that on people. Enough with your drama. Now hurry up, if we stay on this blasted planet any longer my skin will shrivel up and fall off.” Mon Calamari—now that was odd. Rarely did they come to Tatooine, as their need for humidity meant they tended to prefer any environment but desert.

The tall woman coughed, looking faintly embarrassed, before she continued. “I will, of course, give you to yourself once I’ve freed you. Stealing is merely an intermediary step.”

The Mon Calamari rolled her large, silver eyes before bowing to Shmi. “I’m Bant, and this is my former Master, Tahl. We’re friends of Qui-Gon’s. He told us all about you—well, he told Tahl, but I listened in—it’s not my fault if they speak so loudly!”

Tahl sighed, but smiled fondly at the young woman. “Take no mind of Bant. Now come with us. We’ll have you away and with your son in no time.”

“Ani?” The mere thought of seeing him, of holding her little boy again, was enough to take Shmi’s breath away. “But…Watto, the shop, he’ll kill me if I try to leave. Qui-Gon already attempted to free me, and Watto’s angry enough at losing Anakin.”

“Slavery,” Tahl snarled, “is a despicable practice. But the Council, in its infinite wisdom, wouldn’t approve a single credit to free a slave, much less the mother of a new Padawan, so I’ve been forced to take matters into my own hands. Besides,” she continued, a smile sneaking back to her face, “I must say it brings me a significant amount of satisfaction to deprive a slaver of any income off the trafficking of a sentient being. Follow us to our ship, and we’ll have your chip out and be back on Coruscant before you know it.”

Shmi still had no idea what to make of any of this, but her heart filled with more hope than she had felt in a very long time.

 

* * *

 

  
“Have you ever done this before?” Shmi asked. She was lying on an operating table, a medical droid hovering above her, with Bant and Tahl to either side.

“No. But we've studied the technology extensively and we're fairly certain it will work.” Tahl's voice was calm and reassuring, but Shmi was nowhere near convinced.

“At least seventy-five percent sure it'll work!” Bant piped up cheerfully, which did nothing to belay Shmi's fears.

“Isn’t the chip supposed to guard against this? Stop itself from being removed to free slaves?” Shmi’s worry permeated every syllable. “What if I die? What if you’re hurt when it explodes?”

“Ah, but the designers never counted on the Force. With the Force, anything is possible.” Tahl grasped Shmi’s hand, holding it gently, and Shmi took comfort in the touch. “Now be calm, and let us work.” Shmi stared into her odd striped eyes, entranced, and hardly noticed as the operation began.

Minutes—or was it hours?—later, the procedure was finished. “That should do it.” The medical droid placed a final bacta patch over the wound at Shmi’s collarbone where the chip had been removed.

Bant and Tahl both looked strained, though they had done little but sit to the side as the droid worked. Their concentration had been total, however, as they focused on preventing an explosion. Shmi smiled at them, weakly. “So I survived?”

“Yes.” Lines of stress vanished and Tahl broke into an enormous grin.

“We did it!” Bant looked entirely too surprised at the fact, but Shmi was far too tired to give it any further thought.

“Thank you. Thank you so much.” And she smiled as she drifted off to sleep to the accompaniment of the ship jumping into hyperspace.

 

 

 

_The Jedi Temple, Coruscant_

“Mom? Is that really you? Mom!” Shmi couldn’t stop smiling as she swept Anakin into an embrace, tears leaking out of the corners of her eyes.

“Ani, oh, Ani, it is so good to see you again!” She ran her fingers through his now short hair, stopping at the new braid. “Are you okay? Are they feeding you well? And what have you done with your hair!” She turned back to Tahl and Bant, who stood in the corner where a somber young man hovered, looking increasingly worried with every moment that passed.

“You can’t bring her here!” he hissed, and Shmi realized, with a start, that they were discussing her. “What will the Council say? They’ll kick you out of the Order. They’ll kick _me_ out of the Order. And they will _definitely_ kick _him_ out of the Order.”

“Nonsense,” Tahl scoffed. “We’ll find her a place out of the Temple to stay, where she won’t be a bother to anyone.”

Shmi turned and walked towards them, Anakin’s hand still clutched in hers. “I can work. I’ll do anything. Just let me see Ani sometimes, that’s all I need.” Then she paused, a new thought striking her. “Where is Qui-Gon? I would thank him again for everything, for freeing Ani, and for sending you to me.”

The young man’s face suddenly changed, now looking as if she’d just punched him in the gut. Tahl, too, grew much more serious, sadness suffusing her features. “He…he was killed, not long after he met you and Anakin.”

“Oh.” Shmi’s eyes grew round. “Oh, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to bring up painful memories. I didn’t know him very long, but he seemed a good man.”

After a few moments, the young man appeared to get hold of himself. “Yes. Yes, he was. I’m Obi-Wan. Qui-Gon was my Master, and now I only hope I can teach Anakin as well as he would have.”

Shmi smiled at him. “I am sure you will do a fine job.”

 

 

_Later, in Tahl’s quarters_

“There!” Tahl said with a flourish. “Your new room. Until we can get you a proper place on Coruscant, anyway.”

“Master,” Bant said, “I can’t believe you’re giving her my old rooms.”

“You’ve been a knight for ages, what do you need them for? It’s not as if I’m ever planning on taking another Padawan. One of you was far more than enough trouble!” But this was said lightly, with a pat on the shoulder to take away any sting, and Shmi couldn’t help but smile at the obvious fondness between the two of them. “Now off with you, I’m sure you have any number of important tasks to get on with.” And with a final wave to Shmi, Bant left, leaving the two of them alone.

“I can’t possibly thank you enough,” Shmi began. “If there’s anything you want me to do, _anything,_ I will gladly do everything in my power to do it for you.”

“Nonsense!” Tahl said. “I did nothing more than common decency demanded.” Then she paused. “Well, there is one thing. Don’t move any of the furniture.”

“I would never dare!”

“Good.” Tahl smiled at her, and Shmi could have sworn it was the most beautiful sight she’d ever seen. “It was hard enough getting used to change when I could see, and now that I can’t, everything goes much more smoothly if the furniture stays where it belongs.” Before Shmi could process that, Tahl was pulling her across the apartment. “There’s the kitchen, there’s the ‘fresher, make yourself at home! Now I’m going to meditate.” And with that, Tahl vanished into her own room.

The moment she was alone, Shmi stopped, still reeling. Time had flown by so fast recently, with so many changes to everything she had known, everything she had believed to be fact turned around until it was nearly unrecognizable. She was free, never again to be a slave, if she had anything to say about it. Her _son_ was free, well on his way to becoming a Jedi. And now here she was, together with this woman who intrigued her so much, and perhaps… Well. Better not to dwell on matters such as that, since Jedi were notorious for their views on romance, or rather its lack. But still. Shmi couldn’t help but wonder.


End file.
